WEBVTT
EXPECTED TO CREATE THIS
NEW OFFICE AND SEND IT TO THE
FULL COUNCIL FOR APPROVAL.
>> IT IS A VERY GOOD
SIG
,
SHOWING THE CARES FOR THE
IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY.
PAUL
HE IMMIGRATED HERE 16
YEARS AGO.
HE LEFT THE NEW BUT MOUNTAINS
AND SUE DOWN AND WALKED ACROSS
THE DESERT TO EGYPT IN SEARCH OF
A LIFE AWAY FROM HIS DANGEROUS
HOMELAND.
NOW HE IS THE LEADER OF THE
SYDNEY COMMUNITY IN MAINE.
KNOWS
WHAT IT IS LIKE TO
ARRIVE IN A FOREIGN LAND WITHOUT
SUPPORT.
>> A LOT OF TIME, THERE
NOT
GOOD CONNECTIONS OR
COMMUNICATION.
SOMETI THE NEEDS ARE NOT MET
ON THAT LEVEL.
PAUL: THAT WOULD BE THE GOAL OF
THE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC
OPPORTUNITY AND IMMIGRANT
INTEGRATION.
HE CHAIRS THE COMMITTEE AND HAS
A WORKING ON THIS FOR MONTHS.
>> WE HAVE PEOPLE WHO COME TO
THIS COUNTRY WHO ARE LAWYERS
IN
THEIR PREVIOUS COUNTRIES AND
WERE SUPERINTENDENTS.
PAUL: THE OFFICE WILL NOT BE
DIRECTLY PROVIDING SERVICES BUT
WILL HELP MAKE CONNECTIONS
BETWEEN DISADVANTAGED PEOPLE,
MOSTLY IMMIGRANTS, WITH
ORGANIZATIONS THAT CAN HELP.
>> PEOPLE WHO MIGHT WANT TO
TAKE
ENGLISH CLASSES, SOMETIMES THEY
CANNOT GET TO THE CLASSES
BECAUSE THEY DO NOT HAVE
TRANSPORTATION, OR THEY NEED
CHILDCARE.
THAT IS WHAT WE HAVE TO FIND OUT
WHAT THE STATUS OF FULL-SERVICES
PROPOSE.
PAUL: HE HOPES THE PROGRAM WILL
BE UNIQUE AND FEEL THE RIGHT
VOICE.
>> -- VOIDS.
EARLIER THIS YEAR THE CITY SHUT
DOWN ITS OFFICE OF REFUGEE
SERVICES.
THE CITY APPLIED FOR THE GRANT
MONEY TO KEEP THAT UP AND
RUNNING, BUT THOSE GRANTS WERE
NOT RENEWED.
THE COUNSELOR EXPECTS
ABOUT TWO
THIRDS OF THE MONEY FOR THIS NEW
OFFICE TO COME FROM PRIVATE

A Portland City Council committee has approved the creation of a new office that would help disadvantaged people, specifically immigrants, get connected with economic opportunities.

The Economic Development Committee approved the new office 3-0 in a vote Tuesday night. The City Council still needs to approve it.

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"It's a very good sign that the city is showing it cares for the immigrant community," Aymen Korika, of Westbrook, said.

Korika emigrated to the U.S. 16 years ago.

He left the Nuba mountains in the Sudan and walked across the desert to Egypt in search of a life away from his dangerous homeland.

Korika is the leader of the Sudanese community in Maine.

He knows the unique challenges of people arriving in a foreign land without a support system.

"A lot of time, there isn't really good connections or communication, so sometimes their needs are not really met in that level," Korika said.

That will be the goal of Portland's Office of Economic Opportunity and Immigrant Integration should city leaders approve it.

City councilor David Brenerman has been working on the project for months.

We have people who come to this country who have PhDs, who are lawyers in their previous countries, who are superintendents of schools," Brenerman said.

He said the office won't directly provide resources, but instead, will help make crucial connections between disadvantaged people and organizations that can help.

"People who might want to take English classes, sometimes they can't get to the classes because they don't have transportation, or they need child care, and that's what we have to find out: what's the status of those services for folks," Brenerman said.

Korika said he hopes Portland's new program will be unique and fill the right voids.

"Duplication will be, really, just a waste of a lot of resources and time," Korika said.

Earlier this year, Portland shut down its Office of Refugee Services after two grants used to fund the program were not renewed.

Brenerman said he expects that two-thirds of the funding for the new office will come from private donations and the community.